The consequences of scientific and technological progress are
many. While industrial progress has improved the economic well-being of
most people, there are also deleterious environmental effects (such as pollution
and contamination) that have adverse impact upon the physical well-being.
At the same time, progress in the fields of medicine and healthcare have
produced greater knowledge about the identification, prevention and treatment of
diseases.

At the beginning of 2001, while the bubble that was the new
dot.com economy burst and many economic areas seemed to be mired in a
recession, one bright spot is the continued expansion of the pharmaceutical
industry. People can lose their jobs or spend less money on inessentials,
but they will not neglect their health care. Furthermore, the growth of the
pharmaceutical industry has been fueled by the growth of the Over-The-Counter
(OTC) and the Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) channels.

We will now cite some data from the OTC/DTC Pharmaceutical
Study conducted by the research company MARS (Multimedia Audience Research
Systems). This is a mail survey of 23,705 adults completed during the
first quarter of 2001. The content of this survey covers media usage,
health conditions, pharmaceutical usage, opinions and attitudes about health
issues, and demographics.

For this note, we will show the relationship between the
most prevalent ailment conditions and age/sex. Following the maxim "a
picture is worth a thousand words", we provide a correspondence map between
the two sets of variables. The computer program has no semantic
understanding of the theoretical concepts, but nevertheless the program lined up
the demographics by age from the youngest people on the right and the oldest
people on the left, and by males on the bottom half and females on the top
half. For each demographic group, the ailments that are most prevalent
will appear in the near vicinity.

This map is a succinct summary of the connection between
ailment conditions and age/sex. The sadness is that humankind is
accompanied by ailments and sufferings from birth to death for the entire
journey.

According to Census 2000, there are now 35,305, 818 (=12.5%)
Hispanic or Latino persons in a total population of 281,421,906 persons.
Among adults (18 years or older), there are now 22,963,559 (=11.0%) Hispanic or
Latino persons in a total population of 209,128,094 persons. By any
account, Hispanics have become a significant group. According to the MARS
OTC/DTC Pharmaceutical Study, with respect to healthcare situations and
issues, Hispanics display certain similarities and differences from the rest of
the population. Here are a few key findings:

68% of Hispanics have any healthcare insurance, versus 80%
of the rest

61% of Hispanics have medical prescription coverage, versus
71% of the rest

43% of Hispanics agree a lot with the statement "When
I am sick, I still drag myself to work" compared to 39% for the rest

43% of Hispanics agree a lot with the statement "I do
not seek help from doctors or nurses unless I am very sick or injured"
compared to 42% for the rest.

39% of Hispanics agree a lot with the statement "I
first try to remedy my illness with non-prescription medicine before seeing
a doctor' compared to 37% for the rest.

28% of Hispanics agree a lot with the statement "I
always try to eat healthy foods and maintain a balanced diet" compared
to 33% for the rest.